The end of the fiscal year can be an overwhelming time for your business, no matter what industry your company is in. From small businesses to enterprise corporations, the fiscal year end means seemingly endless filing, reporting, planning and ensuring that every piece of important documentation from the past year is taken care of. When your office or offices run off of paper documents and invoices, it can be very difficult to get important work done on time, as documents are passed between hands and departments.

There are a lot of document management systems on the market and not all are created equal. Whether you are looking to implement a new system from scratch or wondering what other options are available, you need to know which features are too important to live without. When managing a team of tens or even hundreds of employees, the right system that will allow your team to work effectively and without problems becomes even more important.

You may be set on implementing document scanning services for your business, and know that the benefits of a digital system are vast. But, are finances getting in the way? Depending on the quantity and quality of your paper documents, a scanning solution may be an upfront cost you’re not comfortable with. To help with these fees. IBM Global Financing is making up to 4 billion dollars available to companies just like yours.

If you work in an office, you have some kind of record management. Even if it is simply filing cabinets, you’ve got a process in place to make sure that you find crucial documents when you need them. But not all record management systems are created equal. Many paper-based systems and inefficient shared drives cause delays in processes and create a lack of visibility in your overall system.

Going green at your office shows your commitment to sustainability and the future of our planet. An electronic records management system is a great way to demonstrate this. But not only is your paper-based system worse for the environment, it’s also slower and hampers the ability of your business to grow.

Is your business disaster proof? No building, or location is 100% safe, and there’s always the risk that disaster can strike and you need to be ready. You’ve likely already purchased insurance to protect your critical business assets in case of damage - that’s because you know the importance of mitigating risk. But have you done the same with your records with a records management system?

Now that you’re paperless, how do you measure the success of the initiative? On a high level, have you achieved your goals and fulfilled the mission of going paperless? On a day-to-day level, has the paperless office improved your employees’ work life and job satisfaction? To assess the system installation and setup, start by looking at how well you’ve digitized those three areas discussed at the outset: capturing, routing and retrieving information.

When you’re planning to implement an enterprise level content management system, you need a flawless plan that will make sure the transition goes smoothly. When tens, if not hundreds, of employees rely on a content management program or software to do their jobs correctly, transitioning to a new program could result in a huge financial loss if errors occur. When you begin this transition, consider the following:

If you’re considering implementing ECM software, there are many things you need to consider. This change is major in an organization, and forces employees to adapt to a new system that they may or may not be comfortable with. When you are thinking of this change, fully assess your company’s need for ECM software by utilizing the following steps.

No business wants ineffective systems, especially when they can result in a loss of finances, productive working hours, and other harmful effects. Inefficient document management contributes to obvious expenses, such as the costs related to filing and storing paper documents. But a cumbersome process could also result in less-obvious opportunity costs, such as the loss of discounts, difficulty communicating with vendors and more. An inefficient document management system can end up doing incredible harm to your company, and the problems it creates may work from the inside to the outside of your business.